Numerous student loan borrowers recently submitted complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about companies that promised them student loan forgiveness or loan forbearance in exchange for fees amounting to hundreds or thousands of dollars. Borrowers believed they were talking to their servicer or a company authorized by the Department of Education because they often knew private information such as the borrower’s loan balance or recent consolidation activity. This is fraud.
Legitimate options for getting rid of your federal student loans as of April 2022:
- Loan forgiveness is not available for all student loan borrowers at this time, though there are programs to forgive federal student loans for specific borrowers , such as public service employees. There are also instances where borrower’s may be eligible for student loan discharge .
- Federal student loan servicers cannot charge you to apply for loan forgiveness, income-driven repayment (IDR), deferment, or forbearance, or to file any other paperwork. Federal loan servicers do not charge any application or processing fees to consolidate your federal loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan.
- The CARES Act pause on payments and interest for federally held student loans has been extended through August 31, 2022. Forbearance on qualifying loans will happen automatically. No one will contact you to sign up for CARES Act forbearance. There is no fee to enroll in CARES Act forbearance. If your…
